Chapter 2: Acceptance is the Best Medicine

Deadly Life

My body was cold as I blankly stared at the pool surface to see Sienna's body there. To see such a small and timid girl found dead was beyond heartbreaking. I soon realized there were screams as I looked over to see Brenda covering her screaming mouth with her hands and Marcel fallen backwards on his butt and shaking like a leaf. "HOLY SHIT MAN! IS THAT FOR REAL?"

"No..." I looked over to see Mikayla's eyes shut very tightly as her head shook in denial. "No that is not for real! THAT JUST CAN'T BE! THAT ISN'T SIENNA AND SHE'S NOT..." Before she could continue a familiar tune played.

*Bing Bong Ding Dong*

I looked over to the nearby monitor as Monokuma appeared on it again. "Everyone please gather around in the pool area! A body has been discovered!" The monitor soon shut off as I saw the dread hit Mikayla so suddenly.

"But that can't be right. It just can't." Mikayla whimpered as tears quickly welled her eyes.

I looked away as I felt the same sorrow hit me like a car as my tears began flowing too. I had such confidence in everyone that they would avoid the temptation of the motive. I woke up today after feeling so happy only for that happiness to be immediately torn down by the sight of Sienna. "Why did I think this wouldn't happen? Paul was right. I'm only setting myself up for despair with the hope I try to build up." I thought I said that in my head but suddenly I heard Mikayla speak up.

"It's all his fault. Paul is to blame here. If he didn't expose Sienna like that then she wouldn't be dead!" Mikayla's fist shook violently at her side as she stared at Sienna with pure hatred in her eyes.

Before I could say anything we heard the door on the other end of the pool smash open as we saw countless students flow in all at once.

Tommy was ahead of everyone else as he stepped forward. He started shouting to us. "Guys! We heard that announcement! Is there really a... a..." His attention soon caught the sight of Sienna's body in the pool as his hands went from his mouth to the sides of his head. "...ah AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

I saw Shana get near the edge of the pool and fall to her knees. "No. Is that... Sienna?"

Ollie looked away her hands cupping her elbows as she sighed. "It seems so. Someone took advantage of the poor thing. Despicable."

Then I noticed Paul and Melinda step forward to view the scene in front of us. "Well looks like we have a major water log toy stuck in the pool. Shouldn't we fish it out?" Melinda asked.

Paul sighed. "I just wish this would end already. It's awfully dreary and quite honestly it's getting on my nerves."

I saw Mikayla suddenly seethe and her teeth grit. I made a move. "Mikayla don't!" I warned her but she already made a move as she charged at them. "YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!"

Before she could get to them Monokuma appeared with dagger-like claws extended. "STOP!"

Mikayla was quick to do so since Monokuma jumped out of nowhere literally mere centimeters from where Mikayla stopped herself.

"What do you think you're doing young lady? You're breaking the rules!" He shouted at her.

Mikayla blinked. "But Sienna is dead! You're damn rules don't apply right now!"

His red eye lit up. "And that's where you're wrong! Just because a body was found does not mean you get freedom to do what you want!" His claws retracted as he began waddling past her. "But I'll let you off with a warning. After all it's time for you to investigate the murder for your next class trial!"

"Another one? You mean we have to go through this again man?" Damian hollered.

"Ugh! Yes man! You have no choice! Seriously how many times must you review the damn rules! A body is discovered for the first time and an investigation is put under way so the spotless can try to fight back against the blackened. The class trial begins, you all argue and debate, and you decide who shall live and who shall die!" Monokuma explained in irritation.

"Oh frizz." Damian mumbled. He obviously regretted asking that.

"If we're suppose to do this investigation then how can we inspect the body if we can't reach it?" Luca asked.

"Yeah," I chimed in. "If this is gonna be fair for us we need to get to her body! But your rules are preventing us from doing so!"

"Relax drama queen! I'm sadistic not a moron. A better term would be that I'm not a Marcel." Monokuma chuckled.

Marcel blinked as he curiously tilted his head. "A Marcel? What's that supposed to mean."

"Idiot." Mikayla growled.

"Oh!" Marcel cooed before his head shot back. "Wait... HEY!"

Monokuma then jumped onto a nearby table and pulled a key out of the wall and placed it inside a panel door. We heard a click as the panel was unlocked and opened. I saw two buttons that were labeled "Fill" and "Drain". Monokuma pressed the drain button and we heard a toilet flush resonate the room. I figured that meant the pool would drain like a toilet and if that was the case then Sienna's body might swirl away into the drain pipe. But when I frantically looked over I noticed many small holes that opened at the bottom that began draining the pool like a giant strainer for cooking.

"Puhuhuhuhu! Do you guys like the sound effect I customized into the pool's controls? I thought it would add some light-hearted comedy to this depressing scene." Monokuma giggled. We just glared at him as the water and Sienna's body began slowly descending until the pool was completely empty of water but not all the blood was washed away as it stained the ground where Sienna's body now laid.

"Now that you have access to most anywhere that could prove useful for your investigation it's time to begin!" Monokuma cheered as he threw a bunch of small tablets at everyone. "And to kick things off here's the first clue! It's the Monokuma File 2.0!"

Brenda blinked. "You said we have access to most anywhere. So was that why I was able to walk into the boy's locker room without anything happening?"

"Righty-o!" Monokuma answered. "Well I'll let you little chicklets get started. After all there's not a lot of time to be looking around before the class trial begins! Enjoy your search for the truth!" With that Monokuma jumped up and disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving us there as we stared amongst one another.

Mikayla stepped forward. "I'm going to say this now! I'm only gonna allow everyone who's not part of that demon's group be able to get anywhere near Sienna. If any of you go anywhere inside that pool, I will kill you."

Paul sneered. "And what right do you have for restricting us from investigating?"

"Because she is dead because of you!" Mikayla shouted at him.

"Are you suggesting I'm the killer?" Paul asked her with a deadpanned expression.

"No but it's because of what you said yesterday that got her killed!" Mikayla growled. "And if you think I'm joking about killing you then you're mistaken since I know the human body as well as any animal."

"You dare to threaten Paul or any of us? You have some nerve!" Melinda huffed at her.

Paul just shrugged. "Fine. But if you're restricting us then I'll restrict you. Melinda will be here to watch you and if you try to leave that pool she will kill you."

Melinda smiled. "Now that's what I'm taking about."

Mikayla blinked. "What?"

"Since you're preventing my group from investigating that one area then I'll make it fair by letting you investigate that one area and nowhere else." Paul smirked.

Mikayla sighed as she turned and walked to the shallow end of the pool and stepped into it before she walked down and knelt down next to Sienna.

Paul let out a surprised hum. "Hmm. Well I didn't think she'd accept that so easily. Oh well. Come on you two. We're off to investigate suspect places." Paul ordered as Marcel and Ollie turned and began following. Melinda however stayed put knowing already that she needed to ensure Mikayla doesn't leave the pool until the investigation was over.

I growled in annoyance. It was understandable why Mikayla wouldn't want certain people near Sienna but to limit her to the pool only was unfair. But then again I bet Mikayla wouldn't want to leave Sienna's side anyway. That's most likely why she was able to accept Paul's terms since she truly cared for Sienna like a big sister but Paul was too cold-hearted to understand that kind of relationship.

"Poor Mikayla. This is terrible." Brenda sniffled. I noticed her nervously playing with the puffy bracelet she had on her right wrist. I could see most everyone was getting more nervous staring at Sienna's body.

"I think it's best we all get started. After all Monokuma is right. We don't have long until the class trial starts." I said to the others as I saw most everyone nod in agreement. Almost everyone left since the only big thing right now that needed investigating here was Sienna's body and Mikayla was already on that. Everyone walked through either the main door or the locker rooms. That is except for one person. I let out an inward groan as Luca approached me.

Once he was standing in front of me he rubbed his neck, showing signs of nervousness. "Hey Kai. Um... do you want help investigating again?"

I looked away. "If our lives weren't on the line I would probably decline since I would be asking for Mikayla's help over yours. However due to her major restrictions and the fact I probably won't get her away from Sienna anytime soon I suppose I'll have to put things aside and work together."

"So you are mad at me even now huh." Luca stated. I didn't answer him as I turned and walked to the end of the pool which I'm sure my silent response spoke louder than any reply I could have made.

INVESTIGATION START!

I decided to sit down at the shallow end of the pool on the edge as I started things off like last time and activated the Monokuma File I was given and began reading it. "The victim is Sienna Donnelly, the Ultimate Figure Skater. Her body was discovered in the pool. The cause of death is choking. The victim's body is also swollen and majorly bruised." I blinked at the words I read and felt disturbed. I read over the words again and found that even after reading it again I wasn't able to pin down this feeling I got.

Luca soon sat down next to me. "Something the matter?" He asked me.

I shook my head. "I don't know why but something feels off about the Monokuma File. I don't know what but it's definitely strange everytime I read it." I guess it can't be helped right now. There's so much more that needs investigating.

Truth Bullet: Monokuma File Obtained

We stood up and made our way down the slightly steep slope of the pool floor but I soon found my feet slipping out from the wet ground and fell back. Just before my head hit the ground my arm jerked up painfully as the left side of my body was all that came into contact with the floor. I looked up to see Luca had snatched onto my right arm and prevented me from falling down completely. He smiled. "The last thing we need is another class trial for you right now."

I felt my lips instinctively try to curl up into a smile but I forced my cheeks to stay put which caused my face to hurt from the muscles fighting against each other. Luca cleared his throat nervously as he helped me up. We continued our way down with Luca lightly holding onto my shoulders to help make sure I wouldn't slip.

I looked back to him. "You don't seem very concern that you might slip."

He chuckled. "No need. I got these shoes just before school started. Mikey shoes are the best for parkour. They're built to endure a lot of wear and tear and they're so slip resistant stepping on a banana peel on a frozen lake wouldn't do a thing." I was kind of surprised to hear that but we soon stopped short as we now stood in front of Sienna's body with Mikayla kneeling next to her. I soon saw her tears streaking her cheeks and falling into her lap.

"Why did this happen? Why did this happen to her? To kill such a sweet and harmless girl like this. It's unforgivable. The monster responsible for this will pay." Mikayla sniffled. I felt my heartstrings being tugged so hard it hurt. Seeing how broken Mikayla was over Sienna was absolutely horrible. Seeing Sienna's body in such a state was horrible. I felt major sympathy for her. But...

"Mikayla I hate that this happened as much as you but we really need to inspect her body. If we find anything useful then we can use it to find her killer. I could use your superior vision to help me find all the tiny details if you can." I gently placed my hand on top of her left shoulder. "Please."

Mikayla didn't respond at first. She just looked at Sienna's body, completely drained and lifeless. After a minute of utter silence Luca walked to her, knelt behind her, and hugged her close. I was just surprised as Mikayla was by the sudden contact with his chest against her back. "We really need your help. I know it hurts but you have to push forward. This is for our sake as much as Sienna. We saw how strong she wanted to be so I bet right now she'd want you to stay strong for her sake. She believed in you and so will I."

Luca remained behind her still hugging her in such a loving manner. It warmed my heart to see Luca be so generous and loving even with Sienna's poor body next to us. Soon I saw Mikayla turn to Luca and smile. "Thanks. I'll do my best." I was pretty sure I notice a blush graze along her features for just a moment when she said that. I felt something in me tingle at the sight. Not too sure why but I ignored it.

Luca nodded to her as he backed off. Mikayla stayed on the left side of her body while I knelt down to the right of her and Luca went to her head. We all stared down at her body as my eyes shifted across her slightly deformed body before taking out my e-handbook and activated the now accessible camera. I noted that she was wearing a white tank top instead of the snowflake jacket she always wore.

Mikayla began examining her body as Luca helped shift her body around. She pointed to her head and neck first. "She's majorly swelled up." She noted.

"Is that because someone used her allergy of soy against her?" Luca asked.

Mikayla moved one of her soaked pigtail off her face as she stared at her. "It... It's not easy to tell."

I blinked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well her body is so wrinkled and wet, her skin is very tender. I bet she's been in the pool for a long while now. But that's not the only reason I'm not entirely sure." Mikayla told us as she lifted her head carefully as she pointed to her neck. Me and Luca moved in for a closer look and we saw bruises on her neck. But taking a closer look at it I saw two lined bruises across her Adam's apple and a few more on the sides and back of her neck. "Are those finger impressions?"

Mikayla nodded. "This indicates she was choked just like the Monokuma File said. There are more bruises on her face and arms too so she might be swollen from being beaten up badly. I don't know if it was the main cause of death or not. If her body hadn't been in the pool this autopsy might be able to tell us more."

I hummed. "Maybe that was the idea."

Luca looked to me. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what if the killer wanted to ensure we couldn't find important clues on Sienna's body. After all we learned a lot from Jayden's cut during the first class trial so maybe someone learned from it and tampered with Sienna's body by leaving it in the pool for hours." I explained.

Truth Bullet: Status of Sienna's Body Obtained

Before I got up I noticed a small red bump on the right side her neck right above her collarbone. "Hey Mikayla? What's that nasty bump on her neck?" I pointed to it.

She leaned down and closely examined it. After a minute she sat up and shook her head. "I think it's a mosquito bite or something. I doubt it's anything we can use. But there is one thing I noticed when searching Sienna."

"What's that?" I asked her.

"When I checked her pockets all I found was her student handbook. I didn't find her dorm key on her anywhere." Mikayla informed us.

"That can't be coincidence. Even though she wanted to be stronger, I doubt she would have risked leaving her key somewhere." I said thoughtfully.

Truth Bullet: Sienna's Missing Key Obtained

"I think that's really all we'll be able to get from her body. Is there anything that you noticed this morning?" Luca asked her.

She shook her head. "No. Nothing and no one out of the ordinary. It's just when I couldn't find Sienna I ran into Brenda and she offered to go get people to help us find Sienna."

Luca nodded to her before looking to me. "In that case we should move on." Luca told me. I nodded in agreement as we stood up. Luca looked back down to Mikayla. "Are you gonna be alright here by yourself?"

"I think so. I'll keep checking her body just in case I can find anything else. Besides it's not like I'm completely alone." Mikayla sighed as she looked behind her on the high edge of the pool. We saw Melinda sitting there with her knife out. She was sharpening it all while not keeping her eyes off us. She waved with a sadistic smile that made me want to punch her square in the mouth.

"I'll be fine. Just keep investigating. I'll need your help to crack this case." Mikayla told us, her words shooing us away.

Luca and I began walking back up the steep slope with Luca doing most of the heavy lifting on my part. We soon stepped out of the pool but I was stopped in my tracks when something caught my eye. I bent and examined the railing next to the stairs of the pool's shallow end.

"What is it Kai?" Luca asked me.

I pointed near the top of the rail where the curve is connecting the piece that is grounded into the floor and the one that is used to hold onto when entering or exiting the pool. There was a strange marking on it. It was brown and it looked like it was lightly rusting. When I touched it, the mark felt a bit grimy.

"That's strange. I thought everything in this school was brand new." I felt like something was off and I couldn't help but feel like this was too important to ignore.

Truth Bullet: Marked Pool Railing Obtained

When I looked away I realized Luca had walked away without me noticing. He was standing in front of the pool rules. I made my way to him.

"You know I had no reason reading the rules for this area before but that third rule is definitely stupid." Luca chimes to me. I looked to the rules and read them despite already knowing what they were.

"I don't think these rules are listed in the school regulations and they might be useful for later on. Maybe." I shrugged as I held up my handbook and snapped a picture.

Truth Bullet: Pool Rules Obtained

"So what now? Where do we search next?" Luca asked. "I doubt there's really anything else around here."

"Well we'll need to look around any place that could have potential clues. The main places I can think of are the fitness room, locker rooms, school store, and Sienna's dorm. We'll also need to try and gather information from the others. See if anyone saw Sienna or knows something that could be useful. We might need to ask Monokuma if it's something no one would know."

"Best be careful." We heard Melinda call out to us. We turned around to see her with a racing grin plastered on her face. "The hunt for the blackened is afoot. Or are they hunting us I wonder?"

I glared at her and looked to Luca. He nodded his understanding as we walked away not giving her the time of day or response to her rantings. We decided to check out both locker rooms first. I figured it would be a good idea to investigate here since any place you normally wouldn't have access to is unlocked for a fair class trial. It's how Damian and Shana found Jayden and Helen in Helen's locked room so why should this be any different?

"Should we split up and search each locker room?" Luca asked.

"Yeah we should. I'll take the girl's locker room and you take the boy's." I told him as I began walking to the girl's only to be stopped by Luca grabbing my arm.

"You're not trying to peep on the ladies now are you?" Luca asked very sarcastically with a wry grin on his face.

I glared at him. "We both know none of the girls are gonna be showering right now. Besides we're both guys so it's gonna be weird for one of us anyway. I'll just go in since I know how to get outside my comfort zone when necessary. After all you are talking to the Ultimate Actor here."

Luca laughed. "Too true. Alright I'll see you on the other side at the gym." Luca let me go and went into the boy's locker room as I approached and entered the girl's.

It wasn't much different from the boys. Just a more pinkish hue to the tiled walls than the boys blue hue. The locker rooms weren't too big. There were two sets of eight green lockers on opposite sides of small benches, an open shower behind one set of lockers, and many bathroom stalls behind the other.

I searched each locker but found nothing. I walked over to the stalls and checked each one and each toilet to see if I could find a sign that they may have flushed something important but found nothing as well. So I then made my way to the showers and looked around the open space. But I wasn't seeing anything. I sighed in annoyance as I turned but suddenly slipped on the tile floor. Luckily my arms compressed my fall enough that my face didn't collide with the ground but my chest arms and my knees were now very sore from the collision. I shook my head a little to compose myself only to feel my chest was wet. I noticed there was a small streak of water coming from under me and soon I heard a drip.

I turned my head back to the shower head directly behind me as I saw the slowest drips leaking from the shower head. I followed the water trail it was leaving with my eyes underneath me then looked forward as I crawled above it to one of the drains in the shower area and I happened to notice on the opposite side of the drain was a small dried-up pink blotch. There was no mistaking what I was seeing in front of me. It was a drop of blood. I quickly stood up and snapped a picture of the drain and the shower head.

Truth Bullets: Leaking Shower Head and Blood Near Drain Obtained

I looked at the shower with curiosity. I wondered if it was leaking because it was slightly broken or some other reason. I approached it and noticed the handle didn't seem to be turned all the way. So I grabbed it and twisted it to the right. I felt the handle tighten up a tiny bit as the leak soon stopped. "Just as I thought. It was just barely left on." I said to myself.

Seeing nothing left for me here I went to the opposite door to the gym and exited through to see Luca already there and waiting for me. He quickly approached as the door closed behind me. "Dude what took you so long?" He asked pausing as he snickered seeing my wet chest. "Decided to shower while you were in there?"

"No. I slipped on the water in there." I answered.

Luca shook his head. "Dude you need better shoes. Those things are like roller blades more than shoes with how much you slip on water."

"Luca once you see what I found I think you'll understand why that was a good thing." I told him as I opened up my camera to show him the photo of the blood drip.

"Is that Sienna's blood?" He asked me but I merely shrugged.

"I don't know. It's the only thing I can think of. What about you did you find anything?" I asked in return but he shook his head.

We had really learned nothing. I may have found something useful but right now there was nothing major that could help us narrow down the suspects. We decided to check out the fitness room next since Sienna that was the last place we saw her last night.

When Luca opened the door and we stepped in the place looked clean. I recall looking in last night when Sienna locked herself in here she was using all the big equipment as well as the smaller ones such as a few weights she could lift. There were also snacks from the vending machines both wrapped and slightly unwrapped with bites from the food scattered all around the equipment. But now the place looked spotless and everything was in its rightful place.

"Looks like Sienna tidied up the place before she left to go to sleep." Luca noted.

"Maybe. Or maybe not." I replied which gave me a confused look from Luca. "Never mind. Let's just look around right now."

He shrugged as we split up and began searching. Not too long into the search we heard the door open. I looked over my shoulder since the door was behind me while I was searching to see Damian, Tommy, and Shana all enter. They nodded to us before they silently split up and began searching themselves. I interpreted that as they acknowledged us being here and they would help out. I saw Damian approach me as he began searching around the snack and energy drink vending machines and garbage can while I searched the equipment nearby.

Damian spoke up. "Hey man. Can I ask you something?"

I looked at him befuddled. "Uh sure. What is it?"

"I just got this funny feeling that the murder happened this morning maybe during breakfast around the time you ran into me and Willie and we talked for a bit before eating breakfast. Don't you think?" He asked me.

"Well that's kinda difficult to say right now. But I would like to know if there was anything suspicious last night or this morning that you noticed." I requested him, hoping he might have something valuable to note.

Damian looked thoughtful as he began digging through the garbage can of empty energy cans and wrappers. "Well no not really. I went straight to bed after the whole blowout with Sienna and Paul. Nothing really out of the ordinary happened this morning. I just got up a bit late and went to go get breakfast. That was about the time I met up with Willie. He looked a tad sweaty and I asked him why. He told me he was working out at 6 this morning and finished just before we met up in the kitchen. That was we ran into you. Or to be more precise you literally ran into us."

I chuckled at that before nodding to him. "Thanks Damian." I felt something bugging me as I looked over and saw Luca's head jerk away back in front of him. I looked away with a weird feeling. 'Was he eavesdropping on us?' I wondered.

Truth Bullet: Damian's Account Obtained

I shook my head as Damian sighed. "Dang man. I thought for sure I'd find something in here. Nothing but some wrappers, bottles, and some weird shards."

I looked at Damian in confusion before I heard a pained scream. My heart leapt as I whipped my head around to see Tommy clutching his left hand, his thumb pressed against his palm. Shana was by his side immediately as everyone else rushed over as well.

"Tommy! Are you okay?" Shana asked in worry.

As I got closer I noticed there was a streak of blood running down his arm. "He's bleeding!"

"I'll run and get bandages from the nurse's office!" Luca volunteered as he rushed out with such speed I didn't register how fast he ran out.

Tommy sighed. "Well that's just my luck to get cut by something."

"What cut you man?" Damian asked.

Tommy simply shrugged. Looks like he didn't know either. But he was kneeling in front of another garbage can and Shana immediately rushed in and began searching.

I was shocked she'd dive in so fast and furious. "Shana! Be careful or you'll cut yourself too!" I warned her.

She seemed to ignore me as she continued on before she stopped and lifted her hands up before pushing a lot of garbage to the sides with both hands as she lowered her head. "What is that?"

The rest of us peered in and noticed multiple broken, plastic bits scattered amongst the garbage. One of which had a drop of blood on it. Definitely from Tommy cutting himself on it.

"What's up with the plastic pieces?" I asked curiously.

I noticed Shana looked at me with an annoyed face. "I doubt any of us know moron."

Damian hummed. Tommy looked over at him. "What is it Damian?"

Damian didn't respond. Instead he ran over and grabbed the garbage can he was searching just a second ago. He quickly pulled out some garbage before speaking. "I thought so."

He then set his can down next to the one Tommy looked through and pointed. "Look."

We obeyed his small demand and peeked inside to see more plastic shrapnel shards. I grabbed a piece from each garbage and compared them. They were exactly the same and I noticed there was some kind of inked wording that looked to be scratched off the surface.

"Looks like someone tried to destroy and hide evidence." I stated.

"Really?" I heard a voice enter the room. It was Luca rushing in with a med kit under his right arm. He swiftly set the kit down and opened it up. He grabbed some Neosporin, a band aid, and a roll of bandages. He took Tommy's hand and began treating his wound.

Luca occasionally glanced at me, informing me he was still listening despite doing something very important.

I began explaining. "Yeah. These shards are the same material and color so I think all of these pieces make something when put together. Also if it was something broken accidentally then someone wouldn't have taken the time to put it in multiple trash bins."

"If that's the case then maybe there are more pieces that were disposed of and that might be why we can't figure out what this could be." Damian added.

"That's probably true." I hummed thoughtfully.

Truth Bullet: Plastic Shards Obtained

Soon enough Luca had bandaged up Tommy's hand and the Ultimate Paleontologist smiled at Luca.

"Thanks man," said Tommy as he rubbed his hand.

Luca silently nodded as he stood up with the first aid kit under his arm.

We double checked everything in the fitness room but no one found any more clues so we went our separate ways again.

Before we could go very far Luca stopped me. "Hey Kai. Remember when you said this place was suppose to be new?"

I looked at him confused. "Yeah. Why?" I might have sounded suspicious but I couldn't help it. His sudden quiet tone threw me off.

"Well when I went to the Nurse's Office, I noticed this first aid kit was used already." He then held out the reasonably sized kit for me to see as he pointed things out through the see through lid. "That band aid box had tears in it, the Neosporin was squished as if used, and one of the bandage rolls is a bit smaller than the others. Also the bandage roll that I noticed was used is skin colored. I saw this before I patched up Tommy."

"That is strange. I didn't think someone else was hurt." I mumbled quietly.

I quickly pulled out my handbook and snapped a shot of the kit. 'I should definitely remember this.' I thought.

Truth Bullet: Used First Aid Kit Obtained

Luca and I soon continued walking and soon ended up at the school store on the first floor. We saw Willie was there alone investigating. He saw us enter when he turned around. "Howdy partners. Came to help me investigate the mystery lurkin' here?" He asked us.

"There's a mystery here?" Luca questioned Willie with a raised eyebrow.

"You bet yur two-tappin' fancy shoes there is! Just take a good looky here and you'll see what I'm talkin' bout." Willie motioned to the glass display case.

Luca and I shrugged at each other before we stepped forward and began searching through the glass case. After a moment I could tell something was off and I thought I was going crazy before Luca spoke up.

"Did someone move things around? Something feels missing." Luca inquired.

After a moment I was able to spot the reason behind it. "Yeah there is stuff missing! Look. On one of the upper shelves here were the knives and down near the bottom was the crossbow used in the first class trial. But now there's just a bunch of leather straps, pocketknives, and lighters in their places."

"Exactly! I also happened to notice this here vendin' machine use to hold granola bars, army soldier figurines, and even tasers. But now it has big cupcakes, a selection of girly bracelets, and flash grenades. Which makes me come to a conclusion. I deduce that Monokuma and the killer moved everything around in here to throw us off!" Willie shouted triumphantly.

"What was that?" A growl resonated behind Willie as he jumped away from an angry Monokuma which we all were surprised to see standing there out of nowhere.

"Seriously! How do you keep poppin' outta the blue like that?" Willie asked him.

Monokuma seemed to ignore his question as he glared at the cowboy. "How dare you suggest I played a part in this murder! You should know that I am not allowed to tamper with any evidence! The rules state so! Besides you're theory about everything getting mixed up is wrong anyway."

"Stop lyin'!" The cowboy shouted at him.

Monokuma's red eye lit up as his anger seemed to flair. "Bears do not lie! Humans lie!"

"Then explain where the knives and crossbow used in the murders of Helen and Jayden are." Willie demanded him.

Monokuma huffed. "Well first of all no one cares about the first two victims! This class trial is for Sienna. Not them! Second of all I do not appreciate that tone of yours young man! And third of all!" Monokuma suddenly paused before he tilted his head with a paw to his chin. "Where was I going with this?"

"Gah? Seriuosly?" Willie gawked at him.

Monokuma then straightened up. "Oh that's right! And third of all the school store won't have anything you've seen before when its inventory is updated!"

Willie blinked. "U-Updated?"

"That's right. After a class trial ends I restock the school store with new gizmos and gadgets for all the students to roam through! If you guys had access to the same items after every class trial then things would get boring and unoriginal seeing everyone die to a crossbow or knife. So to keep things interesting and fresh I change every little detail in the school store!" Monokuma explained.

"But if that's the case then why was Tommy able to get granola bars from the school store before when they should have been gone when the first class trial ended?" I asked after thinking about that since I knew those granola bars were definitely in the vending machine before Helen and Jayden were murdered.

Monokuma suddenly drooped down, his hands behind his back and his foot drawing little circles on the ground. "That's only because I got a bit lazy. That first class trial was just so exhilarating that I kinda forgot to do that until around the time the motive was unveiled."

Truth Bullet: Updated School Store Obtained

"You really are the worst." Luca muttered.

"Why thank you! I pride in myself for being so unpopular! Well I better get going! I wonder how long the investigation will last for?" Monokuma looked at me when he said that question out loud. I bet he was trying to hint that I need to hurry before the investigation phase ends.

When I saw him turn and begin walking away, I quickly stepped forward. "Wait Monokuma! I need you to do something for me!"

Monokuma turned around. "Oh really? What does my lovely assistant need?"

I ignored his nickname he gave me as I pressed on. "I would like to investigate Sienna's dorm. Can you please make sure it's unlocked when we head over there?"

"And why would I do that?" Monokuma asked.

"Because if this is to be a fair class trial then we need to investigate everywhere that can hold potential clues and from what we've found out I'm willing to bet that there's something major in her room. Besides you said you'd unlock all the rooms to make things fair. You had no problem with doing so with Helen's room so Sienna's shouldn't be a problem. And don't try to use the excuse that a body is too important that other evidence doesn't matter as much. After all a body is just as much of a clue as any weapon or other possible evidence." I told him smiling.

"Okay! Sheesh I get it. No need for the dumb monologue. I'll unlock the door right now so get to it before I get bored!" Monokuma growled before he hopped into the hall and vanished around the corner.

Luca smiled. "Great job Kai!"

I shrugged. "What can I say. Monologuing is one of my specialties."

"Well you two best hurry up and git going to Sienna's room. I'm gonna keep lookin' 'round here for any clues we may have overlooked." Willie told us.

"Right. Good luck Willie." Luca waved to him as he and I made a dash through the school to get to the dormitory hall next.

After a few minutes we quickly reached it and ran a little ways into the hall before stopping in front of Sienna's room. I slowly reached forward and took hold of the doorknob before turning it and pushing the door open. What I saw captivated me.

Sienna's room looked like a winter wonderland and I wasn't exaggerating in the slightest! The carpet was designed to look like a sheet of sparkling ice with the bed covered in a blanket of snow and the walls were painted with white snowflakes on a blue sky background. I saw Sienna's ice skates hanging off a hook on the back of the door. I saw her dresser and baggage and also saw a small framed picture. I slowly approached the dresser and picked up the picture.

It had a slightly younger looking Sienna smiling happily in a beautiful blue glittery ballerina like dress with glittery white eye shadow and other makeup I could identify on her face. She was also wearing a gold medal that I recognized was from the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. I only know this because Manako showed me who won the gold in one of the events but I wasn't paying much attention and just caught a brief glimpse of the photo. There was an equally beautiful yet older woman hugging Sienna from over the ice rink barrier as Sienna was obviously still standing on the ice. That had to be Sienna's mom, Connie Donnelly, since they shared so many traits like their eye color and skin complexion. Yet they didn't seem to have everything in common. Sienna's hair was black but her mom had blonde hair and Sienna's eyes were a tad bit squinted more than her mom's. I could only assume she got those traits from her abusive father. But what threw me off was seeing some random kid about our age standing next to Sienna's mom. He was much taller than Sienna with medium, frizzy brown hair, brown eyes, light skin, and wore a red jersey with an emblem of a cartoonish sparrow wielding a hockey stick like a sword. I didn't know sports so the only thing I could gather was that he was a hockey player. The only other thing I could assume was he must have been a friend of Sienna's before she left Michigan to join the academy since Sienna was an only child. But that alone surprised me since she never mentioned any friends she had besides her mom.

Soon the realization that these two that obviously care about her would eventually learn that one of her classmates murdered her in cold blood sunk in as a tear pricked at the corner of my eye. I wiped it as I looked over to see Sienna's snowflake jacket lying on top of the bed. I set the picture down and walked over as I lightly dragged my hand over the jacket feeling each glittered snowflake design as my fingers loomed over it.

"Kai? Kai!" I heard Luca shout out at me, dragging me out of the phase I was in as my stare darted over to him. "Dude we don't have too long. We need to see if there's any clues here."

"Oh right." I nodded as I looked down at the jacket and after another moment of staring blankly at it I felt myself nod firmly as I took my backpack off and placed it on the bed, unzipping it open. I saw the three mementos I had gathered so far from our deceased friends and now I was adding the fourth one to it. I firmly gripped her jacket and went to stuff it before I realized something. There was something stiff inside Sienna's jacket.

"Kai dude! Don't worry. We can grab something from Sienna to remember her by later. Stop staring at her jacket and help me search the place." Luca said sounding more irritated.

"Luca... I think I did find something." I told him.

He looked at me in surprise as he rushed to my side. "Really? What?"

I quickly laid the jacket back down but smoothed out as I reached in since it was a pull over jacket and didn't have a zipper. Soon I felt something that was much rougher than the soft material her jacket was made of. I took hold of it and pulled my hand out as a brown leather strap was pulled out with it.

I stared in utter disbelief at what was in my hand. Again what first came to mind was what I heard Luca first state. "That looks like the same leather straps we found in the school store. But this one looks a bit worn out doesn't it?"

Upon closer examination I saw that Luca was right. The leather straps we saw in the school store looked brand new and refurbished. Yet this one was slightly frayed on the sides and rougher looking than the smooth texture the others had.

I then decided to do a little experiment on the strap as I held it out to Luca. "Rub this roughly on my arm."

He looked shocked at my request. "What? Why? Are you asking me to hurt you?"

"Please just do it. I need to see if this is was I think it is." I pleaded him.

Luca sighed. "Alright but if start to hurt at all you need to tell me."

I silently nodded as he took the strap and wrapped it around my wrist before he began pulling on each end making the leather dig and rub into my skin. I won't lie it hurt. I don't think Luca realized how much pressure he was putting on it. I tried to suppress the pain but one particular tug sent a big jolt that made me instinctively jump with a moan as I bit my lip.

He noticed this and immediately stopped removing the strap off me. "Kai, I told you to tell me if I started hurting you."

"Sorry but this was too important." I said to him as he quickly grabbed my slightly tender hand.

"But look what I did." He complained as I looked down. I noticed that my wrist had taken on a slight brown hue and I could feel that this would definitely bruise up sometime soon.

"Just as I thought." I whispered.

"What?" Luca asked completely lost.

I didn't respond however. I not only immediately took a picture of the leather strap but Sienna's jacket too. The fact that it was hidden in it seemed much too important to overlook.

Truth Bullets: Frayed Leather Strap and Snowflake Jacket Obtained

"This is big! I think this may tie a lot of loose ends together." I said confidently to Luca. "Let's keep searching!"

Luca only nodded as we continued digging around Sienna's room. I was going through her dresser trying to avoid any undergarments I came across until I heard Luca call me over. I saw him kneeling next to a small garbage can near the door.

I rushed over and soon saw him pick up a small towel that had dried blood on it! "I think this is important too. Don't you think so?"

I nodded. "Most definitely." I quickly snapped the picture.

Truth Bullet: Bloody Hand Towel Obtained

"We'll try to think of how this ties in with Sienna and her death later. We need to keep searching." I said but Luca caught my hand.

"Not really. I had already searched everywhere else in here while you were daydreaming over there. Besides I think there is one last place we should look into before we run out of time." Luca told me.

I looked at him with confusion written plainly on my face. "Where else would we need to look?"

"The..." That was all Luca was able to say before that stupid tune played.

*Bing Bong Ding Dong*

We looked over at the monitor with dread as Monokuma was seen. "So after a moment to reflect on things I decided that as of right now you've run out of time! It's time to begin the class trial! Report to the library immediately unless you wish to be marked absent forever. Puhuhu! See you soon!" The monitor quickly shut off as we grimaced.

'Did he purposefully do that just to spite us?' I wondered.

"Never mind. Looks like that was bad timing on our part. Sorry Kai." Luca apologized.

I sighed. "No it's my fault. If I didn't get distracted then maybe we would have found these clues faster and we could have search what you wanted to."

Luca gave a half-hearted smile. "It's fine. I can see why you'd get sidetracked easily right now. I probably would have done the same if I was standing where you were. Well anyway we best get going otherwise things won't be good if we show up too late."

"Right. Let's hurry." I agreed as we quickly left the room. As I ran out I had left the leather strap since I already had a picture of it and I took Sienna's jacket with me and placed it in my backpack as we rushed to the library. Sure I had a picture of her jacket but I needed it to bring back to her mom. Luca said I could always go back for something but with Monokuma I somehow doubted that possibility so I took it now before it was too late. Besides out of everything she had this was the best choice. I bet the photo had a few more copies so there was no point in taking that and the ice skates would've been too big to fit in the backpack. That left her jacket which was not only small due to her small stature but it looked to original to be factory made. I bet anything it was made for Sienna by her mom so leaving it behind would be the wrong choice.

Soon enough Luca and I made it into the library. We noticed most everyone had already arrived but not everyone was present yet.

"There's Kai and Luca!" Brenda waved to us.

"Yeah but we're still missing a few others." Tommy noted.

Shana sighed. "The only ones left are Melinda and Mikayla. Where the hell are they anyway?"

"Let's not forget that Miss Ultimate Veterinarian restricted me from entering the pool so I restricted her from exiting and Melinda made sure of that." Paul reminded us.

"But if she can't leave the pool won't she miss the trial and Melinda will too if she stays there watching her." Marcel wondered.

"Don't be such a Marcel, Marcel! I obviously meant that for the investigation phase only!" Paul sneered at the surfer.

Marcel drooped. "Are you using my name as an insult too? That's a low blow man."

Soon enough the door opened as Melinda pushed Mikayla through the door. They made their way to the rest of the group.

"About damn time! We were waiting on you." Paul barked.

Melinda growled lightly. "We would've been here sooner but I had to pry her off the body of that halfpint bitch. Seriously even I don't weep and get clingy over a kill like that."

Tommy shot daggers at her with his eyes. "That's because you don't understand human emotions and you have a heart made of brimstone."

Melinda looked to him and gave a half chuckle. "Cute. You're glaring daggers at someone who could nail you right in the eye with one."

"Don't even think about it you fucking cunt!" Shana leered at her.

"Enough! We're all here and we all know where we need to go. Kai, open the door to the elevator." Paul commanded me.

"Why are you telling me what to do?" I asked him. "I'm not your lackey."

"No but don't forget Monokuma gave you the responsibility to open the hidden door for every class trial or until you get picked off." Paul responded.

My eyes rolled. "I remember that. I just don't need you to tell me what to do."

"Then let's get going if you don't need the reminder." Paul motioned toward the door with his free hand.

I grumbled at him as I made my way past everyone and approached the "Secret Passageways for Dummies" book and pulled it back which quickly fired back into place. The bookcase made a click sound from unlocking as it slowly descended into the ground with dust being shaken off as it plunged into the floor, eventually revealing the elevator behind it. Soon everyone began walking past me and piled onto the elevator.

I saw the last person approaching was Mikayla and I knew I had to stop her before we got on. When I grabbed her hand she looked at me with smeared mascara underneath her drenched eyes. She must have refused to leave Sienna's body but was forced to leave her behind. "I'm sorry about all of this. I wish I could have been of better help. Maybe I could have prevented this from happening."

Mikayla shook her head as she placed her hand on top of mine. "No. There's only so much anyone can do. Even a celebrity like you can only have so much influence on things. The only thing we can truly do right now is to help Sienna's spirit find peace and bring her troubled soul to rest."

I nodded with a small smile. "I agree. Which is why I know you'll help us find the culprit. So real quick, did you discover anything new with Sienna's body that can help?"

Mikayla's sympathetic smile suddenly vanished as she removed her hands from mine and cast her gaze away. "Unfortunately no. I found no hints hidden on her body. We only have what was clear as day. Nothing more." Mikayla then turned and continued to proceed to the elevator. I sighed hearing that defeated tone come back so quickly as I followed her and saw the door close behind me as the elevator soon jumped before beginning its eerie descent into the earth.

The same tense feeling hit me like a tidal wave as I could feel such strong emotions sweep across the space the elevator provided. Sorrow, anger, hatred, suspicion, fear, and of course despair. Add that to the slowly falling elevator and it just made the situation feel even more tense. But not all the faces I saw had those things. I saw hope and confidence in a few lucky individuals with those being Willie, Brenda, Luca, and Tommy. Seeing them made me feel somewhat better as the ride down seemed to go by faster. Soon enough we felt another jump from the elevator as it came to a halt. The doors opened to reveal the trial grounds to us.

Nothing looked like it changed except a few more seats had framed, grayed, crossed-out pictures. I saw the ones from the last trial which were Helen's and Jayden's and two new ones now seen. One was in Evelyn's seat but instead of her grayed-out picture having a red X over her face it was a spiral; Most likely to reference her talent as the Ultimate Hypnotist as well as a reminder that she died due to a hypnotic suggestion. The other photo was no surprise as Sienna also had a unique photo where her red X was patterned to look like a snowflake but the lines that made up the X were more defined so it was very noticeable despite most if it being designed with a snowflake pattern.

Suddenly Monokuma appeared on his throne-like seat. "Glad to see you all made it just in time! Now then please stand at your designated seating and we can get this super high-strung, exciting class trial underway! Be sure to dock your student handbooks into your podium to sign in."

Everyone began making their way to the seats they were at before. In case you forgot here's a quick recap. Going clockwise from Monokuma's left was Jayden, Ollie, Luca, Evelyn, Paul, Mikayla, Damian, Sienna, myself, Brenda, Willie, Melinda, Marcel, Helen, Tommy, and Shana who was the last person on Monokuma's right.

I didn't notice it right away but after seeing how short Sienna's picture was I realized that all of the pictures of our deceased friends were different heights with Evelyn's and Helen's being around my height and Jayden's towering over us all just like he did. I bet Monokuma made sure they photos where the same height as them to add to the fact that they truly aren't standing next to us. As I stared at Sienna's seat to my right, my mind flashbacked to the moment when I first saw her body.

Sienna Donnelly, the Ultimate Figure Skater; she was too timid and troubled to talk to anyone. But I soon learned that was solely because of her vengeful father and the aggression he took out on such a sweet and innocent girl. The fact such a talented and small girl was brutally murdered is one thing but there's another fact that is very hard to believe. The fact that someone here killed her. One of us killed her and we need to discover who who do this to Sienna. Was it truly the money or some deeper motive? Why was it her? I have to learn the answers to these questions if I can even attempt to ensure our lives will be saved. Because if I don't then everyone will die and Sienna's killer will not only get away with her death but the death of us all by sacrificing us. I can't let that stand.

The stage is set for the second act as the lights begin to turn on and shine upon us, dowsing us all in our own spotlight; showcasing us all as potential friends and as potential enemies who will find the time to what needs to be done in this deathly game, in this deathly life. In this deathly truth and this deathly lie. This deathly deception; all portrayed in this deathly class trial!

Here we go again! The second class trial will be underway! Most of the clues have been gathered but not everyone was satisfied with how their investigations went. Will they make up for it or will it get them killed in the end? Who is your most likely candidate for committing the murder? Why do you think they would do it? I love hearing people's thoughts on these things so please leave a review on your answers and overall thoughts of my fanfiction so far! It took me so long to figure this chapter out and thinking up of truth bullets and tying them into the class trial has definitely been the most challenging portion of writing this story. But thanks to my buddies giving me some helpful tips and advice I was able to overcome it this time! But until next time I hope you despair for the next chapter to release soon. Who knows how long it'll be. See you soon. Maybe. Puhuhuhuhu~